In an interview with TASS, Rupert Colville explained that the real figure may be considerably higher given that the UN had so far not managed to get reliable information on casualties in Debaltsevo

Ukraine military in Artyomovsk

GENEVA, February 20. /TASS/. Deaths in the Ukraine conflict have reached almost 5,700 and may be far higher, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday.

The conflict that began last April has left 5,692 people killed and 14,122 wounded, UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva.

In an interview with TASS, Colville explained that "the real figure may be considerably higher" given that the UN had so far not managed to get reliable information on casualties in Debaltsevo, a railway junction town in the country’s east that has been the focus of most of the fighting in recent weeks.

"Considering the scale of fighting and the fact that civilians have been trapped in the town, we fear the number of those dead and wounded may be considerably higher," he said, adding that the UN human rights office was seriously alarmed by the current situation.